April 25, 2009
STANFORD, Calif. - USC beat Stanford, 20-30, 27-30, 30-27, 30-24, 15-11, in their Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament first-round matchup at Maples Pavilion on Saturday night.
Fourth-seeded Stanford (21-11) won the first two sets, but fifth-seeded USC (18-10) was able to rebound and advances to the MPSF semifinals.
In the fifth set, USC bolted to a 5-1 lead, but a block by Gus Ellis and Brad Lawson ignited a Stanford run that closed the deficit to 7-6. A Riley McKibbin brought USC an 8-6 at the changeover.
A service error and a Murphy Troy kill extended the lead to 11-7. USC was able to maintain a lead the rest of the way.